Occasionally, a race comes around which catches my eye.
The Rainow 5 is a fell race, but probably as easy as fell races get, having a
climb of 229m / 751ft and only 5 miles.
 |
| Chris, Giles, Hill and Mat at the Rainow 5 |
As this fell on a Wednesday night, I
thought it would make a nice change. Chris had done this
one a couple of times
before, and so had convinced me that I was capable of it, and with the promise
of tea and cakes at the end I committed myself to doing it, mainly by saying so
on the Striders Facebook page.
So Chris, Mat and I set off to Rainow, just the other
side of Macclesfield. On arrival we met Giles and Jon Tatham. Entry was on the
night, just £4 and was quick and easy.
Of course, as soon as I arrived I spotted that the main field looked like
serious fell runners, as I had expected. So I just resigned myself to running a
nice leisurely race, with some great scenery.
The weather was perfect really, for a race. A bit chilly
and a few spots of rain, which soon cleared.
The first mile was along a track and then turning left
into a field we ran downhill into a valley via a number of stiles. By the time
I arrived at the first stile, there was a queue of runners waiting to climb it,
so whilst it was nice to catch my breath, I also lost a few minutes. Once
through the stiles, the path branched off to the right and started to climb.
This was runable at first, but I was soon walking. At just before the 2 mile point, we had a very steep, but short walk/run/scramble up to White Nancy. It was a relief to get there, and once at the top I could really start to enjoy the run. The next mile or so was along a ridge with slight undulations. I really enjoyed this bit. The views over to the right were fantastic, with the sun starting to set over Macclesfield in the distance.
This was runable at first, but I was soon walking. At just before the 2 mile point, we had a very steep, but short walk/run/scramble up to White Nancy. It was a relief to get there, and once at the top I could really start to enjoy the run. The next mile or so was along a ridge with slight undulations. I really enjoyed this bit. The views over to the right were fantastic, with the sun starting to set over Macclesfield in the distance.
The path then started to descend, which at first was a
bit rocky so I really had to watch my footing (I had actually remembered to
wear my contact lenses which makes a huge difference to my confidence when
running on surfaces like these). The next mile or so was a great path going
along a river and across fields until we found ourselves back at the stile.
With one mile to go, the reverse route was now uphill, and I found it a lot
harder than it looked. I finished to the cheers and encouragement of the other
Striders which was great, although I suspect the prospect of getting to the tea
and cakes had something to do with it, particularly Giles, who had now been
waiting 20 minutes!
As we went back into the village hall for our
refreshments, which were excellent, the results were already being displayed on
a board. They used the old fashioned way of sticky labels with coloured dots
for age categories, and not a computer in sight. It was all very efficient.
In all, a great race, brilliant scenery and organisation
and all for £4. The refreshments were made by the local villagers who seemed to
have a bit of a competition amongst themselves to make the best cakes! I would
definitely do this one again.
More information can be found on the Macclesfield Harriers website,
Jill
No comments:
Post a Comment